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October 2011

The @BritishLibrary will close early on 10th of Nov. so the bloody queen can visit. She doesn't even have a thesis to finish! Not amused.

Started Ballard's Crash en route this morning. Less abstract than The Atrocity Exhibition & more disturbing in the same logic.

Had multiple friends recently state they want to learn "to do websites". It's easy. Read multiple books on XHTML,PHP & CSS. Do it for years.

Just finished my umpteenth re-read through of Gravity's Rainbow. That book still amazes me and reminds me why I want to do my Ph.D.

Decided I'm too averse to risky behaviour. First step into a new, more dangerous world experience: using hummus a day past its sell by date.

On encountering an academic job application which lets me submit a CV, rather than custom form, I rejoice. Seriously, rejoice. #phdchat

Just read a review of @nicholasroyle's "Murmurations" which @thoughtcat and @ChrisBellNZ will be pleased to hear includes Hoban's The Raven.

Expanding my talk on Open Access for Sussex library. Brainstorming reworked peer-review, library structure and decentralization.

Preparing to teach The Roaring Girl next week, which means New Historicism and Materialist Feminist Dialectic. Hope my MFD t-shirt arrives.

Could integrate some more Pynchon this week... we're looking at Petrachan sonnets and there's a good 'un at Gravity's Rainbow pp.532-533.

Walters (2011): "free access is not a significant factor in their [academic author's] submission decisions" < worrying

Preparing talks introducing Open Access publishing to researchers (esp. humanists). If any other institutions interested, give me a shout.

Annual "attempt to not die of flu day" today (vaccination). Downside of later start is that I must tackle our Withnail-esque washing up pile

Love how Lansley says we should eat less and eat better while the gov. lets McDonalds sponsor the Olympics and won't regulate food biz.

38 degrees petition has 150,000+ signatures. The threshold for re-discussion on the official e-gov website is 100k. Will they reconsider?

Today was a marvelous exercise in feeling ill, going to the library with optimism, doing little research and coming home ill. Great.

"You failed. According to the Life in the UK Test, you have insufficient knowledge of the English language or of life in the UK to remain."

Very pleasantly surprised that Metro have run headline on amount lost through tax loopholes & how much greater it is than benefit fraud

Speeding Sussexward as fast as a x-London train to Victoria can carry me. Given this, perhaps "speeding" wasn't the right term.

Guardian HE debate on "employability" sounds like something I would like to attend, but sadly I teach that day and can't get back in time.

Got this in response to my tweet re. bro's band! RT @subcide: @martin_eve your brothers band? Awesome :) I saw them open for Devin Townsend

Measure for Measure this week in my seminar. Thinking of spicing it up by injecting Pynchon's allusive Mortality and Mercy in Vienna.

Think the woman with a set of skis at London Liverpool Street station might have taken the cold weather forecast a little too seriously.

Interestingly, nobody has done a PhD in the UK on Tomas Tranströmer & can find very little Eng. lang scholarship on his work.

Every time I read it I realise that Jeff Baker's Pynchon piece "Amerikkka Über Alles" is fantastic on nearly every front.

Uh oh. "would the building manager please go to reception" announcement at the BL usually means "fire alarm test in 10 mins".

Mmm, two days of Pynchon research now teaching is done this week. Enjoyable discussions on historicism in classes, though.

Thomas Pynchon has shot up the list to third favourite for Nobel Prize for Lit. Wonder what the bookies know that we don't? #twitterature